This production of King Lear by the Belarus Free Theatre was first staged at the Globe Theatre in London as part of the 2012 Globe to Globe Festival (April 23 to June 9), and brought back to the Globe in 2013 (September 23 to 28). A theatre in exile from a totalitarian state, the Belarus Free Theatre drew on the history of reading Shakespeare in the Soviet Union, as well as on the current situation in Belarus, to comment on the cruelty, violence, and individual vulnerability generated under the conditions of dictatorship. Read More

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Le songe d’une nuit d’été), directed by Peter Brook, Royal Shakespeare Company. Also known as Peter Brook’s Dream. Premiered in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1970 and then moved to the Aldwych Theatre in London’s West End in 1971. World tour in 1972-3. Read More

Ur-Hamlet is a multicultural project by Odin Teatret: a performance that brings together the Odin Teatret ensemble, a group of actor-dancers from Bali, Japan, Brazil, musicians from different parts of the world, and a long-term pedagogical project for young trainees from all over the world. Read More

Henry V is the fourth and final episode in The Hollow Crown TV series aired in 2012 and produced by Sam Mendes. Thea Sharrock directed this adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play. The other three episodes are: Richard II; Henry IV, Part 1; and Henry IV, Part 2. Read More

Henry IV, Part 2 is the third of four episodes in The Hollow Crown TV series aired in 2012 and produced by Sam Mendes. Richard Eyre directed this adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play and adapted the screenplay. The other three episodes are: Richard II; Henry IV, Part 1; and Henry V. Read More

Henry IV, Part 1 is the second of four episodes in The Hollow Crown TV series aired in 2012 and produced by Sam Mendes. Richard Eyre directed this adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play and adapted the screenplay. The other two episodes are: Richard II; Henry IV, Part 2; and Henry V. Read More

Richard II is the first of four episodes in The Hollow Crown TV series aired in 2012 and produced by Sam Mendes. Rupert Goold directed this adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play and collaborated with Ben Power on the screenplay. The other three episodes are: Henry IV, Part 1; Henry IV, Part 2; and Henry V. Read More

King John is the earliest film adaptation of one of William Shakespeare’s plays. The short silent film was made in 1899 and depicts the death of King John. It was directed by William Kennedy, Laurie Dickinson and Walter Pfeffer Dando and produced by British Mutoscope and Biograph Company. Read More

From the National Theatre of Scotland comes a one-man production of William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. Directed by John Tiffany and Andrew Goldberg, this re-imagined production is set in a psychiatric unit. This performance is approximately one hour and 45 minutes, with no intermission. Read More

Ralph Fiennes stars as the title character and makes his directorial debut in this 2011 adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play Coriolanus. The film was shot in Belgrade, and the story was updated to a contemporary setting. John Logan wrote the screenplay. Read More

Kenneth Branagh dressed as Isambard Kingdom Brunel during the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics (directed by Danny Boyle) and recited Caliban’s lines from The Tempest 3.2.138-145 (2005 Oxford edition). The closing ceremony featured Timothy Spall’s Winston Churchill reciting the same passage spoken by Branagh earlier. Read More

Released in 1913, Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson’s Hamlet is a black and white silent film with English subtitles. The film is a 22 minute version of the play, directed by Hay Plumb and produced by Cecil M. Hepworth. Other cast members include Gertrude Eliot, Adeline Bourne, and J.H. Barnes.

Shakespeare’s immortal “To be, or not to be” takes on a whole new meaning (and medium) as classical stage and screen actors David Tennant and (recently-knighted) Sir Patrick Stewart reprise their roles for a modern-dress, film-for-television adaptation of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s (RSC) 2008 stage production of Hamlet. Read More

Director Rupert Goold’s gripping stage production of Macbeth was filmed for television at the end of 2009. Patrick Stewart in his triumphant, Tony-nominated performance as the ambitious general, and Tony-nominated Kate Fleetwood as his coldly scheming wife. Read More

King Lear is a 2008 television film based on the William Shakespeare play of the same name, directed by Trevor Nunn. It was broadcast on More4 in the UK on Christmas Day, and shown on PBS’ Great Performances in the United States in March 2009. The production was filmed mainly at Pinewood Studios in England. Read More

What happened to the three daughters of King Lear before they made their entrances in Shakespeare’s classic? Yellow Earth Theatre presents this seminal work exploring the formative years in three young women’s lives. Read More

Lear hands over control of his global business empire to his daughters. In his Shanghai penthouse, he asks them to justify their inheritance. The older sisters flatter their father in elegant Chinese but English educated Cordelia, no longer fluent in her father’s tongue, says “Nothing” and the loss of face sends Lear into a spiral of fury and madness. Read More